Time apart
by Encrypted Pseudonym
Summary: Hawk has a realisation. He decides spending some time away will sort things out, but this is easier said than done. Oneshot.


Ok this one's for JQ-Quinn. She hounded me till I wrote it, well more like mentioned it once in passing but yet she got the cogs in my mind whirring. To be honest I'm not very impressed with it, there seems to be A LOT of introduction for not a very eventful finish. I blame it on the fact that I got the idea last night and by the time I'd written it down today the end bit wasn't as clear in my brain anymore.

**WARNING** - This is a Seabird (as it has now been officially dubbed). If you don't like slash, or just Hawk and Shark (although how anyone could ever dislike them sob) then I suggest you don't read on.

Warning 2 - I'm too lazy and tired to even read this through so the spelling and grammar is probably unforgivably bad. So this is almost like a rough draft. I'll probably read it through tomorrow and correct the horrendous mistakes. (Yeah right.) Feel free to point out my stupidity in a review.

Disclaimer - Short and sweet, A.T.O.M. is not mine.

* * *

Hawk had come to a realisation, but that didn't mean he had to be happy about it. For the past week he had been waking up from dreams of a questionable nature, drenched in sweat and definitely excited. Normally this wouldn't have bothered him, he was a teenage boy, it was part of the job description. Except the person he was dreaming about, now that wasn't something he was used to.

Ollie Sharker, the laid back surfer with a cheeky smile and casual attitude. He didn't really understand why he was feeling this way. They weren't even that close friends, they didn't have the same interests or personality, in fact they were more like complete opposites. Shark was always cool calm and collected, he took things in his stride, taking life as it came.

Hawk was more driven. Confident and controlled he loved being centre of attention, he was focussed on what he wanted in every part of his life. Which was why he was so frustrated that for once he wasn't sure what he was going to do.

He knew he could no longer think of himself as your average teenage guy but he didn't think he was going to be spreading around his new revelation. He wasn't certain how the others would react, especially Shark. He could picture horrible images of Shark turning his nose up in disgust but he shook them away knowing it was only his insecurities playing up.

Besides, it was only a silly crush. He had got over them before, he just needed to put his mind to it. If he spent as much time away from Shark as possible he wouldn't be tempted to do well... anything he would regret later. He could catch up on his reading and try to fix the balance problem on his motorbike, he would be through this phase in no time. Now. Time for a cold shower.

* * *

Hawk was sitting in the bright airy living room of the old Aquarium, more commonly known as home. He was folded into an armchair, legs propped over one armrest and his head was rested on the other, he had a book open in his lap and he was thoroughly absorbed in rights of passage for the dead in Ancient Egypt. That was, of course until a blond head popped up behind him peering over the back of the chair.

"Hey Hawk whatcha doing?" Shark asked his grin revealing perfectly straight white teeth. Hawk turned a page resolutely.

"What does it look like?" He countered clenching his teeth as Shark smiled down at him.

"I guess it is kind of obvious." The surfer said letting out a breathy laugh the air tickling over Hawk's arm. Hawk didn't reply, not trusting himself to speak.

"Well." Shark told him after a couple of seconds of silence in which Hawk was completely unable to concentrate on the text before him. "I'll leave you to it."

Hawk watched him go out of the corner of his eye. He sat there for about five minutes then sighed and slammed the book closed after realising he had read the same paragraph three times and still had no clue about its content. Wriggling ungraciously out of the chair the redhead stood and stretched before wandering off to find something else to occupy his mind.

* * *

Zach Hawkes opened one of the fitted cupboards above the work top in the kitchen and pulled out the peanut butter and jam. He slapped two slices of bread onto the plate in front of him and set about making a sandwich.

"Whatcha doing?" Shark asked, coming into the kitchen, grabbing an apple and hoisting himself up onto the work surface. Hawk jumped accidentally skewering the bread with his knife then continued brutally spreading the filling.

"Isn't it obvious?" He replied frowning.

"Yeah I spose." Shark said taking a bite of his apple and kicking his heels repeatedly against the cupboard below him. Hawk tried his best to ignore the intrusive sound and shove all thoughts of the other teen from his mind. It wasn't working, he could feel Ollie's eyes on his back and in the end he retreated taking his mangled sandwich with him. He felt cowardly for practically running away but couldn't help the relief that flooded through him once he put some distance between himself and blond, who was oblivious to the effect he seemed to be having on his teammate.

* * *

Hawk was hiding in the garage. He finished his sandwich and headed over to his bike rolling up his sleeves. He gently removed the cover over the engine and set it aside on the floor. Disconnecting the break cable he loosened a couple of nuts and fiddled with two twisted wires.

"Whatcha doing?" Shark asked, having slipped silently into the garage. Hawk jerked, his head shooting up and connecting with the handlebars. The bike toppled over and Hawk fell back in the other direction rubbing his forehead.

"Sorry dude!" Shark exclaimed rushing to Hawks side and bending down to help him. "Are you ok? I didn't mean to startle you like that."

"It's fine." Hawk snapped sounding angry then regretting it because Shark looked offended. He sighed. "I'm fine, just pick my bike up."

Shark nodded and heaved the bike back into an upright position. "Are you trying to fix the balance problem?" He asked as he did so.

"Yeah." Hawk replied surprised that Shark had noticed it. "It's nothing serious but it bugs me you know? I want a smooth ride."

Shark nodded. "You always wobble on corners." He pointed out crouching by the uncovered engine. "Maybe you should replace the break fluid so that the break doesn't stick so much, then put a couple of weights on the inside of the right hand cover, that way when you turn you won't tilt so much to the left."

The two of them were so close Hawk could feel the heat radiating from Shark's body. He was having a hard time taking in the boy's words because he was too caught up in the natural lilt of his voice. Hawk shook his head suddenly trying to clear his mind.

"You don't agree?" Shark asked, raising a brow.

"No, no it sounds like a good idea." Hawk said, he had to get away from the surfer now. "I just..." He searched for a suitable excuse. "I don't want to mess up my bike by not being able to pay attention," Well at least that was true. "I hit my head pretty hard and I have a bit of a headache." He said by way of explanation.

"Man, I'm sorry about that, I didn't think you'd be so jumpy." Shark apologised again peering at Hawk's forehead where there was a slightly raised red mark. "Tell you what, I'll put the cover back on, you go get some painkillers or ice or something."

The corners of Hawk's mouth quirked up in a small smile and he stood up turning his back on the surfer. This time it was Shark's turn to watch Hawk go, a slight frown on his face.

* * *

Hawk was lying on his bed, hands behind his head staring up at the ceiling. For a person he was trying to avoid he had spent more time with Shark than normal. It seemed wherever he went the blond boy popped up. He was never going to get over the surfer if he couldn't even get him out of his sight let alone his mind.

There was a soft knock at the door and without waiting for an answer Shark opened it and stuck his head in.

"What-" Hawk cut him off with a glare, he didn't think he'd ever met someone so unintentionally aggravating. Shark smiled feebly. "Sorry." He walked into the room ignoring the glare Hawk was maintaining and sitting on the edge of his bed.

"Hawk... Zach, is something wrong? You've been acting strange all day, all week in fact." Shark asked. Hawk growled and sat up eyes flashing in anger.

"What does a guy have to do to get some peace round here?" He snapped getting off his bed and pacing back and forth across the spotless room.

"Dude. You need to chill out!" Shark retorted looking mildly annoyed at Hawk's erratic behaviour.

"I don't need to chill out, I need to be left alone!" Hawk shouted rounding on his friend and prodding Shark sharply in the chest.

"What's your problem, man?" Shark sneered back, eyes narrowed in anger. He stood up and knocked Hawk's hand away. "All I've done is be nice to you, even though you're arrogant, rude and you spend so much time licking your own butt you barely have time for any of us!"

"Why won't you just go away?" Hawk snarled shoving Shark in the direction of the door. Shark pushed Hawk in retaliation and as the boy stumbled back his knees caught on the edge of the bed and he fell backwards. Shark launched himself on top of the teen holding him down.

"I'm not going anywhere until you can be reasonable." The blond threatened. Hawk struggled for a minute then fell limp.

"I'm sorry." He said eyes downcast unable to look Shark in face. The surfer released his grip and Hawk surged upwards rolling them over and reversing the positions. He was leaning down, nose to nose, breath coming in short angry gasps.

"Do you have any idea what you're doing to me?" Hawk asked both furious and extremely turned on. Shark's eyes widened and he blushed. For a minute they remained motionless, the only sound breathless panting.

Then without warning Hawk moved forward removing the last couple of inches between them. Their lips met in a crushing kiss, there was nothing sweet, delicate or romantic about it. Hawk pushed Shark harder against the bed as they fought for dominance, he ran his tongue along Shark's bottom lip and the blond's mouth opened. Their tongues duelled and their lungs were burning for air.

Finally they broke apart, chests heaving for air. "Dude, no wonder you were frustrated." Shark said.

"You're not... disgusted?" Hawk questioned looking immensely relieved. Shark shook his head wondering how someone who got by on confidence and sheer bravado could be so insecure. The door burst open both Axel and Lioness stood in the doorway. Hawk was so shocked he fell off the bed and Shark sat up. His hair was mussed and both boys were flushed and panting.

"Are you guys ok?" Axel asked looking concerned, Lioness was smirking. "We heard yelling, you haven't been fighting have you?"

"You could say that." Shark said, sharing a glance with Hawk.

* * *

Hmm, I really would appreciate your thoughts on this one. I'm not sure if I got the characters quite right. I mean how often do you see Shark get angry and fly off the hook? But I figured it was just a hint at how Hawk gets under Shark's skin just as much as he gets under Hawk's. Since its mainly from Hawk's perspective (although still in the 3rd person) so we know what he's feeling but we can't really tell Shark's thoughts.

And do you know how many problems I had thinking of ways to describe Shark without actually using the word Shark. If I have used 'blond' and 'surfer' too many times you may hit me over the head with a haddock.

Remember. Review. You know you want to. Even if it is just to tell me that I suck.


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